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Introduction
Reports are important management tools for influencing future actions. Through reports,
information can be shared and consequently lessons learned.
However, good report writing is not easy and it is very time consuming. In addition, if a
report is not easy to read, it probably will not be read at all.
In these guidelines attention is paid to report writing in general and, in particular, to the
Project Progress Report. If the ideas or words being used in these guidelines are not
familiar to you, please look at the manual ‘How to build a good small NGO’, chapters 3
through 6, on the www.networklearning.org site, or ask for more explanation by e-
mailing to: ginneken.noordman@wxs.nl.
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1. What the results are so far of the implementation of the project (impact
development information)
2. Which activities have been implemented so far. Is this according to the project
proposal? (Activity implementation information)
3. How was the money spent? (finance/budget information)
4. Information about the project staff.
Purpose: Determine what the purpose of the report is. Is it to inform others so that
they become interested in the project? Or is it a presentation of the results of the project
to e.g. your donor?
Layout: Check whether the report needs to be written in a compulsory layout (e.g. type
of paper, headings footings, standardised form, etc.)
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Retrieved from www.networklearning.org
Target group: Determine who the readers of the report will be. The contents of the
report need to be adjusted to the people who will read it. E.g. How much information do
they already have about the project?
In a progress report with the purpose to keep readers informed, only the latest
information is needed. If you want to present the project to a potential donor, or you
want to inform other outsiders, you need to be more elaborate in explaining where the
project is all about. The target group will also determine the level of language you need
to use.
Time span: Check out when the report needs to be ready. Then make a time plan for
your-selves for writing the report (date for completing the first draft, date for having it
checked by a senior colleague etc).
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Arrange your information in a logical way and take care the structure is well balanced.
The way the report is divided determines the structure. Make use of chapters,
paragraphs, sub-paragraphs. Chapters need to be roughly the same length. Paragraphs
should be a logical subdivision of the chapters. Keep each short and make sure that one
sub-paragraph covers one subject.
Write the language of your reader – not childish or over-sophisticated. Avoid long and
complicated sentences (not longer than 15 –20 words). Take care that the report is easy
readable without reference to other literature. If needed, use footnotes to explain certain
concepts/ideas.
1. Does the report answer the questions raised by whoever commissioned it?
2. Is the structure logical and well balanced? Is the order of the topics correct?
3. Have the pages been numbered and is this according to the Index?
4. Has somebody else read the report and asked for feedback, before you sent it to
the person who commissioned it?
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The cover: (preferably of a heavier quality of paper than the rest of the report). On the
cover it should mention:
Depending on whether your report is for internal or external use, you can mention your
own organisation and/or the organisation for whom the report is written, e.g. the donor
organisation.
The title page: this is not always necessary. Usually the information of the cover page
is repeated. If applicable, information on copyrights, distribution etc. could be mentioned
here.
The Index: this should be a separate page on which the chapters and paragraphs are
listed and are next to the appropriate page number. Only the first page number of each
chapter is listed.
The foreword: this is not always needed; again it depends on the type of report. In the
foreword issues are mentioned which are not essential to the contents of the report, like:
words of thanks, for whom the report was written, by whom and why etc.
The executive summary: the executive summary is very important because not
everybody has time to read the whole report. In the executive summary, the most
important points are presented:
The main text of the report: The main text is most commonly divided into the
following chapters:
Introduction: this indicates the structure of the report. In the introduction often issues are described
which are obvious to the writer of the report, but not to the reader. By reading the introduction, the
reader should understand what exactly the report is all about; which topics are included, which are not
and why; how the information was obtained; why the report was written; what the aims of the report
are (e.g. is the report written to present information, to advise, to evaluate?) etc.
Clarification of the problem statement: this chapter explains why the information is needed, which
information is needed and how the information obtained will be used. (or what the problem is, why the
problem needs to be solved and which information is needed to be able to solve the problem).
Methodology: a short description of how the information was obtained (methodology). The results, with
an interpretation and description of the information obtained.
Conclusions of the results
Annexes: if information or explanations which take up a lot of space and attention are in the text then
they can make the report difficult to read. This type of information is often put in the Annexes. For
example: a literature list (references to literature used in the report),
detailed explanations, examples, drawings, maps, list of abbreviations etc.
Annexes should be numbered and should have a title. In the main report, references should be made to
the annexes when needed. Annexes are also listed in the Index.
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The information will help you to know how the project is going. You can share this
information with colleagues or beneficiaries; you can discuss its contents with more
senior management or with other units and you can feed the lessons learned back into
the next round of planning. These project progress reports will also form the basis for
your reports to governments and donors. (see above under ‘Report writing in general’).
The basic layout of a progress report should include the following items:
In addition there may be details about revenue and manpower, and reference to
activities related to the project but not directly under the project management control.
The reports usually contain a mixture of narrative comment and quantitative data. They
should make clear what was planned and what was achieved or when targets were not
set, what was achieved in the same period the year before.
PPRs provide an important source of information over time about activities and their
outputs. Their usefulness will depend on the regularity with which they are completed
and their quality. The common problems of PPRs are that they are too lengthy, with poor
or incomplete coverage of the key issues. They are often largely descriptive, rather than
focussed on performance and management action.
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• Objectives;
• project design weakness;
• accuracy of planning and budgeting;
• resource constraints;
• coordinating problems;
• management problems internal to the organisation;
• adverse external environment.
Understanding the nature of the problems being faced will help ensure that appropriate
action is being taken.
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Flash reports
A useful format for providing a quick structured report on project progress and issues
requiring actions is shown below. Such reports should be limited to one page only and
are designed to highlight key issues while requiring the minimum amount of paper work.
The flash report is ideally suited to be a monthly update for transmission through a fax
machine.
References:
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